@@ -1039,7 +1039,7 @@ Settings-specific deviations:
 | **No auth, so the free-plan variant** | There is no auth store here (same gap as the main window's plan badge), so the profile row shows the signed-out "Click to sign in" state and does nothing when clicked, and the Cap Pro section renders as it does for a free user: Instant Mode quality pinned to 720p, the other tiers inert. In the Tauri app clicking a locked tier raises an upgrade toast. `instantModeMaxResolution` is therefore displayed but never written. |
 | **Selects are in-window menus** | `SelectSettingItem` and the excluded-windows Add button pop a real `NSMenu` via `Menu.popup()`. `ui::Menu` draws a menu-shaped panel at the pointer (which is where `popup()` with no argument puts it), with the same check marks, the same click-away dismiss, and the `KSelect` keyboard contract on top: arrows, Home/End, Enter, Escape. It does not flip or shift to stay inside the window, so a menu opened near the right edge is clipped by it — as it was before the consolidation. |
 | **Text fields commit on the button, not on Return** | The project-name template and the server URL are `ui::TextInput::settings` — the same field as the search, differing only in its fills. Both are drafts committed by Save / Update, which is the Tauri card's own shape: neither `<input>` there binds `onKeyDown`, so Return does nothing in either app. Escape reverts to what is stored. The recordings folder is *not* a text field in either app — `pickRecordingsFolder` opens an `NSOpenPanel` and the path is a readout. |
-| **The project-name preview is literal-only** | `commands.formatProjectName` understands `{moment:<format>}` and custom `{date:...}`/`{time:...}` formats through a moment-to-chrono translation. The preview here substitutes the six literal placeholders the card documents and leaves anything else alone — which is also what an unknown placeholder does there. |
+| **The project-name preview is literal-only** | `commands.formatProjectName` understands `{moment:<format>}` and custom `{date:...}`/`{time:...}` formats through a moment-to-chrono translation. The preview here substitutes the documented placeholders and leaves any unsupported placeholder alone. `{random}` and `{random:N}` generate 10 or 1–32 lowercase hexadecimal characters in the recording name; the GPUI preview does not generate random values. |
 | **Theme tiles keep a fixed height** | `aspect-[5/3]` has no gpui equivalent, so the three previews are 93px tall, the height they have at the window's default 782 width. Widen the window and they stay 93. |
 | **`AccentColor` is macOS blue** | `--macos-settings-accent: AccentColor` resolves to the user's system accent; gpui exposes no query for it, so the checked toggles and the selected sidebar icon use `#007aff`. A user on a non-blue accent sees blue here and their own colour in the shipping app. |
 | **No toggle bevel** | `.cap-toggle` carries `box-shadow: inset 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.16)`; there is no inset-shadow hook in this gpui rev, so `ui::Toggle`'s track is flat on every surface. |
 
@@ -2591,15 +2591,51 @@ fn format_recording_project_name(
         RecordingMode::Studio => ("Studio", "studio"),
         RecordingMode::Instant => ("Instant", "instant"),
     };
+    let template = replace_random_template_tokens(
+        template.unwrap_or(crate::store::DEFAULT_PROJECT_NAME_TEMPLATE),
+    );
     let formatted = template
-        .unwrap_or(crate::store::DEFAULT_PROJECT_NAME_TEMPLATE)
         .replace("{recording_mode}", recording_mode)
         .replace("{mode}", mode)
         .replace("{target_kind}", target_kind)
         .replace("{target_name}", &target_name);
     let formatted = replace_datetime_template_token(&formatted, "date", "%Y-%m-%d", datetime);
     let formatted = replace_datetime_template_token(&formatted, "time", "%I:%M %p", datetime);
-    replace_datetime_template_token(&formatted, "moment", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M", datetime)
+    let formatted =
+        replace_datetime_template_token(&formatted, "moment", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M", datetime);
+    formatted
+}
+
+fn replace_random_template_tokens(input: &str) -> String {
+    let mut output = String::with_capacity(input.len());
+    let mut remaining = input;
+
+    while let Some(start) = remaining.find("{random") {
+        output.push_str(&remaining[..start]);
+        let candidate = &remaining[start..];
+        let Some(end) = candidate.find('}') else {
+            output.push_str(candidate);
+            return output;
+        };
+        let token = &candidate[..=end];
+        let length = if token == "{random}" {
+            Some(10)
+        } else {
+            token
+                .strip_prefix("{random:")
+                .and_then(|value| value.strip_suffix('}'))
+                .and_then(|value| value.parse::<usize>().ok())
+        };
+        if let Some(length @ 1..=32) = length {
+            let random = crate::store::new_uuid_v4().replace('-', "");
+            output.push_str(&random[..length]);
+        } else {
+            output.push_str(token);
+        }
+        remaining = &candidate[end + 1..];
+    }
+    output.push_str(remaining);
+    output
 }
 
 fn replace_datetime_template_token(
@@ -2712,6 +2748,49 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn recording_project_names_expand_filename_safe_random_tokens() {
+        let timestamp = chrono::Local
+            .with_ymd_and_hms(2026, 8, 25, 9, 15, 0)
+            .single()
+            .unwrap();
+        let name = format_recording_project_name(
+            Some("{random}-{random:16}-{random:0}"),
+            "Example Window",
+            "Window",
+            RecordingMode::Studio,
+            timestamp,
+        );
+        let parts = name.split('-').collect::<Vec<_>>();
+
+        assert_eq!(parts[0].len(), 10);
+        assert_eq!(parts[1].len(), 16);
+        assert!(
+            parts[..2]
+                .iter()
+                .all(|part| part.chars().all(|character| character.is_ascii_hexdigit()))
+        );
+        assert_eq!(parts[2], "{random:0}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn recording_project_names_preserve_random_placeholder_in_window_title() {
+        let timestamp = chrono::Local
+            .with_ymd_and_hms(2026, 8, 25, 9, 15, 0)
+            .single()
+            .unwrap();
+
+        let name = format_recording_project_name(
+            None,
+            "Implement {random} placeholder",
+            "Window",
+            RecordingMode::Studio,
+            timestamp,
+        );
+
+        assert!(name.contains("Implement {random} placeholder"));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn window_title_with_windows_reserved_characters_creates_a_project_directory() {
         let filename = project_bundle_filename(
 
@@ -3782,6 +3782,11 @@ impl SettingsWindow {
             ("", "{target_name}", "Monitor name or window title."),
             ("Date & time", "{date}", "the recording's date"),
             ("", "{time}", "the recording's time"),
+            (
+                "Random",
+                "{random}",
+                "10 filename-safe hexadecimal characters; use {random:N} for 1–32.",
+            ),
         ];
 
         let body = div()
 
@@ -1867,6 +1867,7 @@ pub fn format_project_name<'a>(
         static ref DATE_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r"\{date(?::([^}]+))?\}").unwrap();
         static ref TIME_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r"\{time(?::([^}]+))?\}").unwrap();
         static ref MOMENT_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r"\{moment(?::([^}]+))?\}").unwrap();
+        static ref RANDOM_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r"\{random(?::(\d+))?\}").unwrap();
         static ref AC: aho_corasick::AhoCorasick = {
             aho_corasick::AhoCorasick::new([
                 "{recording_mode}",
@@ -1878,6 +1879,19 @@ pub fn format_project_name<'a>(
         };
     }
     let haystack = template.unwrap_or(DEFAULT_FILENAME_TEMPLATE);
+    let haystack = RANDOM_REGEX.replace_all(haystack, |caps: &regex::Captures| {
+        let length = match caps.get(1) {
+            Some(value) => match value.as_str().parse::<usize>() {
+                Ok(length) => length,
+                Err(_) => return caps.get(0).unwrap().as_str().to_owned(),
+            },
+            None => 10,
+        };
+        if !(1..=32).contains(&length) {
+            return caps.get(0).unwrap().as_str().to_owned();
+        }
+        uuid::Uuid::new_v4().simple().to_string()[..length].to_owned()
+    });
 
     // Get recording mode information
     let (recording_mode, mode) = match recording_mode {
@@ -1888,7 +1902,7 @@ pub fn format_project_name<'a>(
 
     let result = AC
         .try_replace_all(
-            haystack,
+            &haystack,
             &[recording_mode, mode, target_kind, &truncated_target_name],
         )
         .expect("AhoCorasick replace should never fail with default configuration");
@@ -7075,8 +7089,48 @@ async fn emit_recording_started_telemetry(app: &AppHandle, state_mtx: &MutableSt
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
+    use chrono::TimeZone as _;
     use tempfile::tempdir;
 
+    #[test]
+    fn project_name_random_placeholder_is_filename_safe_and_sized() {
+        let name = format_project_name(
+            Some("{random}-{random:16}-{random:0}"),
+            "Example Window",
+            "Window",
+            RecordingMode::Studio,
+            None,
+        );
+        let parts = name.split('-').collect::<Vec<_>>();
+
+        assert_eq!(parts[0].len(), 10);
+        assert_eq!(parts[1].len(), 16);
+        assert!(
+            parts[..2]
+                .iter()
+                .all(|part| part.chars().all(|character| character.is_ascii_hexdigit()))
+        );
+        assert_eq!(parts[2], "{random:0}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn project_name_preserves_random_placeholder_in_window_title() {
+        let timestamp = chrono::Local
+            .with_ymd_and_hms(2026, 8, 25, 9, 15, 0)
+            .single()
+            .unwrap();
+
+        let name = format_project_name(
+            None,
+            "Implement {random} placeholder",
+            "Window",
+            RecordingMode::Studio,
+            Some(timestamp),
+        );
+
+        assert!(name.contains("Implement {random} placeholder"));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn requested_microphone_absence_is_an_error_not_an_empty_track() {
         let error = selected_microphone_for_start(Some("Requested mic".into()), &[])
 
@@ -1178,6 +1178,15 @@ function DefaultProjectNameCard(props: {
 									{momentExample()}
 								</p>
 							</div>
+
+							<div class="space-y-1">
+								<p class="font-medium text-gray-12">Random</p>
+								<p>
+									<CodeView>{"{random}"}</CodeView> → 10 filename-safe
+									hexadecimal characters; use{" "}
+									<CodeView>{"{random:16}"}</CodeView> for 16 (1–32).
+								</p>
+							</div>
 						</Collapsible.Content>
 					</Collapsible>
 				</div>
 
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ DESKTOP APP SETTINGS:
 - Crash-recoverable recording: on/off (fragments recording for recovery)
 - Max capture framerate: 30, 60, or 120 FPS
 - Automatically open shareable links (Pro): on/off
-- Default project name template with placeholders: {target_name}, {target_kind}, {date}, {time}, {recording_mode}, {mode}, {moment:...}
+- Default project name template with placeholders: {target_name}, {target_kind}, {date}, {time}, {recording_mode}, {mode}, {moment:...}, {random} or {random:N}
 - Excluded windows: hide specific windows from recordings (useful for hiding Cap itself or other tools)
 - Self-host server URL: point desktop app to a self-hosted Cap server
 - Configurable keyboard shortcuts for: screenshot (display/window/area), open recording picker, stop recording, restart recording, pause/resume recording, cycle recording mode, record display/window/area